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Fiddlesticks
Build Guide by Kinesis

This build has been archived and is for historical display only.

PLEASE NOTE: This build has been archived by the author. They are no longer supporting nor updating this build and it may have become outdated. As such, voting and commenting have been disabled and it no longer appears in regular search results.

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page.

Defense:
13

Utility:
17

Introduction

READ BEFORE CONTINUING:THIS GUIDE HAS JUST BEEN RE-WRITTEN. MISTAKES AND CONTINUITY ERRORS MAY EXIST. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS IF THERE IS ANY MISTAKES OR TYPOS AND THEY WILL BE FIXED IMMEDIATELY.

Hi there! My name's Kinesis and I'm a support player on EUW. Fiddlesticks is an increasingly popular champion being sent to the bot lane as he comes packed with utility to help zone and CC your enemy, and does a fair amount of damage even with small amounts of AP.

Fiddlesticks support was once considered a troll before popularised by professional play. Last season I left a disclaimer that at lower ELO you may be reported for taking Fiddle as a support champion. Right now, I really don't think that's an issue. He's a powerful support.

Nevertheless with Fiddlesticks being far outshadowed in the mid lane and as his jungle dominance wanes, he will see increased play bot lane. I hope you enjoy my support guide and hope that you find it useful. I hope to hear about some awe-inspiring Crowstorms and fear shutdowns.

Pros / Cons

Pros

[+] Longest fear in the game when maxed, completely shuts down assassins and casters[+] Annoying spammable silence[+] Synergises well with burst carries (e.g. Graves)[+] Good harass and brush control early game[+] Level 6 kill lane and teamfight presence with Crowstorm[+] Good self-sustain with Drain[+] Passive Dread lowers enemy MR and negates Consecration[+] Can tank Dragon for an early take with Drain

Cons

[-] Incredibly squishy, easily bursted[-] Vulnerable to poke or bindings, see Lulu, Zyra[-] You'll be focused a lot in teamfights[-] No sustain for the AD carry excluding Heal[-] Vulnerable to CC and interruption when channeling[-] Slow base movement speed[-] Metasheep still accuse you of trollpicking

Masteries Explanation

Supports of course have to invest heavily into Utility and it depends on the type of support you play whether you invest mostly into Offense or Defense.

Masteries

4/1

3/1

1/5

2/1

1/1

1/5

1/5

1/5

3/1

1/1

3/5

4/1

1/5

2/1

1/

1/

0-13-17 is, in my opinion, the optional set up for Fiddle. You don't need to invest too deeply into the Offense tree, because unlike Zyra or Lux, your strength lies in your disabling CC and not your overwhelming burst potential. Any offensive capability you do invest in will be through your items, and you really need early game survivability. Otherwise champions like Leona or Thresh are going to have a ball game murdering you over and over again.

[.] Durability is needed to overcome Fiddle's low base HP and keep you alive in teamfights.
[.] Hardiness will give you extra armor to help against poke and dogfights with the enemy AD.
[.] Resistance will provide you with a tiny amount of MR. This one point alone can negate underrated damage from caster minions.
[.] Unyielding and Block will provide extra protection against incoming damage.
[.] Veteran's Scars is an additional 30HP. You never know when you might need it.
[.] Safeguard is pretty much an insurance policy against taking an early tower hit.

As you can see there is much invested into Defense. This is to reinforce his strong early game.

[.] Summoner's Insight reduces the cooldown of Flash. Also affects Clairvoyance and Clarity should you take them for some reason.
[.] Meditation gives you some additional mana regen. Fiddle rarely runs into mana problems unless you keep spamming Drain.
[.] Enhanced Recall is something I find fairly useful considering how slow Fiddlesticks is. Not mandatory.
[.] Mastermind reduces summoner cooldowns. The more, the better.
[.] Greed and Wealth provide you with additional gold. The starting gold is important to get good starting items, and the small trickle of passive gold is important, especially if you are not taking gold runes.
[.] Biscuiteer and Explorer are excellent and severely underrated. Don't neglect this for points elsewhere. They're important. Free ward for invade defense and an extra pot? Yes please.
[.] Pickpocket is good for AA harass. I like to use plenty of autoattacks where I can to keep the pressure on. Make it worthwhile.

Utility is a tree that should deeply be invested into as a support. Don't neglect it for points in Offense. You are not an AP carry.

Alternatives

The common 0-9-21 mastery tree is more than acceptable with Fiddlesticks, providing him with further utility than defense. Also acceptable is 9-0-21, but make sure you take defensive runes.

Author's note: There's always going to be other alternatives that I haven't mentioned. Let me know if you have any good suggestions.

Runes Explanation

Runes

Greater Seal of Armor9

Greater Mark of Precision9

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist9

Greater Quintessence of Health3

Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration provides valuablemagic and armor penetration. Early game against both enemy AD carries and supports this can cause your poke to hurt more than just base AP alone, especially if they have magic resistance masteries and runes. Which is especially common on supports such as Taric and to reiterate, is important going against Soraka's passive Consecration. You get only slightly less mpen than going with full magic penetration, and means your autoattacks sting a lot more.

Ability Sequence

The ability sequence is relatively simple. For support Fiddlesticks you're going to want to get Dark Wind at lv1. This is actually a big deal as it grants the following:

[+] Allows you to pull blue or red for your jungler if necessary[+] Gives you a strong silence to shut up both an AD carry and support camping in the side brush[+] Good initial harass without significantly hurting creeps[+] Helps repel jungle invades by silencing and hurting their team (since they often huddle together)

Aside from this, Terrify should be maxed out first in order to maximise the potential of your fear, which is the biggest weapon Fiddlesticks has to help his AD carry slay the enemy carry or support - and later on shut down enemy assassins or casters. One level in Drain is of course recommended to help sustain yourself and to do damage to your victim once they've been feared and silenced and your AD carry is occupied with punishing them severely.

You'll max out Dark Wind second simply for its damage output and of course leveling Crowstorm wherever possible. (As with all ultimates)

Summoner Spells

Recommended Spells

[+] Flash is a helpful escape card. Helps you not only get away from danger but can also help you get into range to drop a Terrify on a fleeing enemy for your carry/team to mop up.

[+] Exhaust is good by weakening the enemy AD carry, helping to score a kill during a gank or a 2v2 dogfight. It's also good late game in slowing down fleeing enemies before fearing/silencing them for teammates to kill. It also has some use in slowing down enemies caught in Crowstorm.

[+] Heal is a great summoner spell to take considering you don't provide any sustain for you carry. Some might argue there's better options but it is especially strong late game.

[+] Ignite is a strong weapon that is taken when you're confident to win your lane. Don't take it if they have an all-in support like Leona, or a carry that needs to be handicapped. I'm looking at you Vayne. Don't take it if you carry is taking it, but if he has any brain he won't.

Average Spells

[*] Clarity provides additional utility, as you cannot provide any mana to your AD carry. It's still a useless spell late game, go buy a Mana Manipulator or tell your AD to stop being a dumba** and conserve his mana.

[-] Revive just don't. The idea is that you don't die. You'll be reported for taking this.

Warding

In the early game it's important to ward your lane appropriately to prevent early ganks, especially from champions who gank very early, such as Lee Sin and Trundle.

Choosing where to ward on the river is important. Some choose to ward the river bush and others choose to ward up towards blue entrance / Dragon. It's entirely up to you.

It is worth warding the lane bush closest to the enemy's tower for increased brush control, especially against dangerous, unpredictable supports such as Blitzcrank and Thresh.

Remember to ward your Tribush on the left, preventing the enemy jungler from approaching you that way. This is especially important against junglers such as Alistar.

When you recall, ward Dragon using a Vision Ward. Place it strategically to detect the enemy's wards and to destroy them. Buy Oracle's Elixir when you can afford it without putting yourself back. It's important, so get one before 10/15 minutes and keep buying them.

For warding, follow the same procedure as other support champions. This map will help you.

Encourage your team to help ward! Don't be the only person warding.

Your jungler should take wards with him to ward important strategic objectives when you cannot, such as Baron Nashor or an enemy's red or blue buff.

Your mid AP carry should usually ward their river bushes to prevent potential ganks.

Your solotop should always ward his river bush and often tribush to also prevent ganks and improve map awareness

For as long as possible, keep on warding. They're especially important for controlling gank points and around the time the Baron Nashor spawns.

IMPORTANT: Remember to always have space for Sight Wards before you get your Sightstone or when it is out of charges. I've said this before in the guide, but as its your responsibility to ensure bottom lane is warded adequately in the early stages of the game; failure to do so and you will get the blame if you get ganked or if Dragon gets stealthily taken. Ward your lane properly and crucial spots later. Place a Vision Ward at Dragon, buy your Sightstone as soon as possible and take an Oracle's Elixir when you know it won't put your core items behind. Then try to get one as frequently as possible to remove enemy wards.

From here you can pick and choose items depending on your enemy's team composition. Allow me to explain.

Ruby Sightstone Although it only gives you a fair amount of health, keep it until the very end to ensure you have enough wards. You should still be buying individual wards also. This item is vital.

Locket of the Iron Solari is a very strong item in Season 3. It does provide decent amounts of health and armour, and most importantly cooldown reduction. On top of this its active can turn the tide of teamfights by providing allies with a damage absorbing shield. It also is the new replacement to Runic Bulwark.

Shurelya's Reverie

Shurelya's Reverie is one of the most important support items in the game. It provides you with great amounts of health and health/mana regen, but most importantly its active ability allows for speedy engagements and disengagements. You build it relatively late to maximise upon the gold earned by your Philosopher's Stone.

Shurelya's Reverie

Mikael's Crucible is a very strong item that provides you with good stats and a strong heal and cleanse. Consider it if they have a lot of CC and you need to protect your carry further.

Morellonomicon is a common sight on support AP carries and even mid laners themselves. It provides good mana regen, AP and CDR as well as its unique Grievious Wound passive. It's very cost efficient if you're looking to max your CDR and do extra damage. Amazing against Volibear and Dr. Mundo.

Shard of True Ice

The blizzard active on Shard of True Ice is great if you have a tank initiator or just want to include extra CC. It also provides you with a mana regen aura, great for mana hungry team compositions.

Shard of True Ice

Twin Shadows is a really good item on Fiddlesticks as it provides you with AP, MR and movement speed. Its active is great for revealing enemies and when using Crowstorm. Heavily recommended.

Will of the Ancients synergises extremely well with Fiddlesticks' Drain and his other abilities. This item is just a fantastic pick up, especially in duo/trio AP comps. It gives them additional AP and gives them spellvamp without having to itemise for it. Champions like Akali will love you for it. Even benefits champions with AP scaling that aren't itemising for it. Ezreal, Tristana and so on.

Niche Items

The following items have excellent utility but are very situational and unusual to see on a support Fiddlesticks.

[*] Banner of Command grants you a health regen aura and decent stats. It also gives you a Promote active. Great for splitpushing. Not so great for soloq.

[*] Zeke's Herald gives you health and CDR, but more importantly provides your AD teammates with an aura providing them with attack speed and life steal. Doesn't really benefit you but you're support after all. Get it if you have a lot of AD on your team.

[*] Ohmwrecker was slightly reworked but it is still quite weak. It has its place though. It's good for teamdiving compositions and is a lot more appealing to AP supports.

[*] Randuin's Omen is an extremely strong tank item. It gives you an absolute ton of armour and health and shuts down AD carries and bruisers. It's very expensive though. It might be worth still picking up if you're getting shredded by Renekton.

[*] Frozen Heart is another expensive tank item that shuts down AD carries and bruisers. You could get it if nobody has it and you need to put further dampening on their frontline. It also gives you CDR, mana and armour.

[*] Abyssal Scepter makes you hurt really bad when you're up close and personal by providing you with AP and MR, and shredding their resistance. Great on duo/trio AP comps when your team is lacking one.

[*] Liandry's Torment is a strong item that gives you HP, magic penetration and AP, as well as the burning passive. It's expensive but strong if you snowball. Think carefully whether you need it.

Summary

Support Fiddlesticks is a great alternative to many common support picks especially in non-sustain lanes, if you've followed the guide then you should be okay! Let's all hope for when Fiddlesticks becomes more and more viable in the mid lane and jungle again. Damn power creep.

I hope you've enjoyed this guide! I genuinely enjoyed writing it, and although its different, please don't downvote it on the grounds of you disliking the concept of a support Fiddlesticks. Please at least appreciate it for being, what is in my eyes, decently written and not in any way rushed.

If you have any constructive criticism, I'd love to hear from you in the comments below! I hope to write more guides on other support champions, both common and unorthodox in the future!

Keep on supporting!

Notes: Thanks to Flatline-lol for the ward map!

Changelog

Author's note: I'm only listing major changes in this log. I won't bother to add small typos, grammatical or formatting errors that I come across, I correct those silently.

14-08-2013 - Update

16-05-2013 - Complete Rework

05-09-2012 - Moved Exhaust to recommended Summoner Spells after much discussion, replacing Heal as the main recommended spell. I also forgot about Cleanse so I added some info on that.

06-09-2012 - Added elixirs to items.

19-09-2012 - Added some more examples to the In Context section. I can't believe I forgot Leona and Lulu!

League of Legends is a team based, real time strategy game set in a mythical world of swords & magic where epic battles decide the fate of mystical nations. Game players take on the role of a Summoner who conjures and controls champions to fight for them at the Institute of War. During game play champions gain experience and items to enhance their skills and abilities. How players develop and play their champions can be the difference between a crushing defeat or a glorious victory!